The Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) has responded to the resignation of health secretary Wes Streeting.
DAUK notes that in his statement, Streeting cited the government’s unpopularity. However, many NHS staff will feel he had become an increasingly unpopular health secretary.
There has been a growing sense that the concerns of frontline NHS workers, and in particularly doctors, were not being listened to or addressed.
DAUK hopes that whoever succeeds him will take a more collaborative approach and will genuinely listen to NHS staff.
Ten Year Health Plan concerns
DAUK has raised concerns about several aspects of the Government’s Ten Year Health Plan, including the increasing role of the private sector in NHS delivery, unresolved issues around pay and working conditions, training.
There are also concerns linked to the Single Patient Record, the involvement of Palantir Technologies in NHS data systems, and the lobbying of Government by corporations and private individuals .
The challenges facing the NHS are significant, and meaningful reform will only succeed through partnership with the workforce delivering care every day.
Meaningful engagement
Dr Matt Kneale, DAUK co-chair, said: “Doctors do not need another period of headline-driven reform, rushed announcements, or policy made without meaningful engagement with the workforce.
“The next health secretary should begin by rebuilding trust, meeting frontline staff, listening without defensiveness and recognising that patient safety and workforce morale are inseparable.
“That means tackling unsafe scope creep, ending the use of ACPs as substitutes for doctors on medical rotas, being honest with patients about who is providing their care, and engaging seriously with the profession to avoid further industrial action.
“It also means addressing doctors’ concerns about the impact of the new draft GMC order, which appears to reverse years of agreed progress on how health regulators should interact with their registrants.”
Stability and leadership
Dr Sarah Jacques, DAUK GP co-lead, said: “During a time when we desperately need stability and leadership, I am concerned about the chaos that we are seeing again.
“However, I am not sad to see the resignation of a health secretary who has shut down the voice of general practice and made conditions for GPs and patients so much worse.
“I look forward to a new health secretary who is prepared to work with GPs and appreciate the genuine worth that we bring to the NHS.”
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